The present invention is directed to a panel for supporting tubing carrying fluid, e.g., radiant heat transfer medium. More particularly, the present invention is directed to such a panel capable of securely supporting the tubing in any of a variety of configurations thereon in a stable, versatile manner and easily installed into building structures from any available position. As used herein, the term “heat transfer” encompasses heat exchange for both heating and cooling purposes. For example, the heat transfer tubing can carry heating fluid such as water or cooling/refrigeration fluid such as Freon (CCl3F).
Numerous types of structures for retaining heat transfer tubing on floors, walls, ceilings, etc. are disclosed, e.g., in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,533,185; 5,579,996; and 6,283,382. These types of prior art structures suffer from the disadvantages of requiring a multiple of differently shaped or configured panels to support and retain the tubing in a desired pattern, and/or absence of secure interlocking between adjacent panels to provide secure and smooth direction of the tubing, and/or insufficient directing of radiant heat flow in a desired direction.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,800,352; 6,251,495 disclose utilizing a radiant heat barrier to reduce unwanted heat transmission in a particular direction, but are still deficient in securely supporting the tubing in any number of patterns. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,092,587; 5,740,858 and 5,497,826 show heating/cooling systems having panels with very specific arrangement of both supporting channels for heat transfer tubing and heat barrier layer, hence lacking in versatility.